Most of the huge cast of “Game of Thrones” crowded together backstage at the Emmys Monday evening as the showrunners said the drama’s eighth and final season would be bigger than ever.
“It’s the biggest thing we’ve ever done,” David Benioff told reporters. “When people see it, they’re going to understand why it took so long.”
The cast and crew spent nearly a full year in Belfast, Northern Ireland on location.
Backstage early to talk about his best supporting actor win for his portrayal of Tyrion Lannister on the blockbuster HBO series, Peter Dinklage said the location shoots were so long that Northern Ireland became a second home.
“I really developed deep roots,” Dinklage said. “I had my last day on set back in July … and it was very sad. This is not only a great TV show to be part of, but it was a great family to be a part of.”
Writer George R. R. Martin, who wrote the novels the series is based on, said the show and the recognition it has garnered has “changed science fiction and fantasy television” and “made us equal to any genre.”
It was the series’ third win for best drama.
Asked about why the show was so universally popular, co-creator D.B. Weiss talked about the imaginary land in which the series is set.
“Westeros doesn’t belong to anybody … that means that anyone can be equally connected to it,” Weiss said.
He also credited Martin, who Weiss said, “took all of world history and condensed it,” creating “a mirror that everybody can see themselves in.”
Martin fed speculation about possible sequels, noting that five prequels to the story exist.
“We’re not done with Westeros yet and there are many more stories to tell,” Martin said.
The spotlight backstage ended on Kit Harington, who plays Jon Snow, and Emilia Clarke, who is Daenerys, mother of dragons. At least one of the two apparently avoided reporters on the red carpet before the show.
They were asked how the show changed their lives.
“I met my wife in this show, so in that way it gave me my future family and my life from here on in,” Harington said of co-star Rose Leslie, who played Ygritte, a woman who lived in the treacherous north beyond the wall and became Snow’s lover.
“It’s changed it completely,” Harington continued. “You could not ask for a better job to have in your 20s.”
Clarke echoed his sentiments.
“Really similar, apart from the wife bit, basically. I genuinely owe it absolutely everything,” Clarke said.